"I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics." -Richard Feynman

Over the past seven months I have had a lot of free time, and I have passed much of that time reading. Since I’ll be starting school up again in a month, I’ve decided to exercise my fuzzy brain by writing some casual reviews of some of my favorite books of the recent past. And because I have nothing else to blog about these days.

Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman! Adventures of a Curious Character” By Richard Feynman



While I am the first to admit I am completely incompetent and lost when it comes to science, and more so math, I am absolutely fascinated by it. Especially when it is presented in layman’s terms. This interest is probably heightened because the subject matter is such a mystery to me…it’s almost magical!

This book is an autobiography by Richard Feynman, a Nobel prize-winning physicist who was involved in the Manhattan Project (development of the atomic bomb during WWII). At some point during the project, Feynman and many of his fellow scientist began to realize the implications of their research, and his moral struggles are fascinating to read about. And because there’s no way I’m going to thumb through the book in order to recall his achievements in physics, Wikipedia told me this about him:

“…known for the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as work in particle physics (he proposed the parton model). For his contributions to the development of quantum electrodynamics, Feynman received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965…”

Anyone who can explain physics in a way that makes sense and even blows my mind is a genius. This guy is a genius. He’s even an amazing writer…what CAN’T he do?!

But, the best parts of the book are not the scientific descriptions, but the touching, humorous anecdotes of his life that literally made me l.o.l. I l.o.led in cafes, I l.o.l.ed late at night in bed when I literally couldn’t put the book down. It was just wonderful.

He had a passion for safecracking and drumming, likes topless bars and playing practical jokes on his friends and fellow scientists, which made him a well-rounded person indeed. Unfortunately, his romantic life was never as successful as his career; one might argue his over stimulated mind and hectic life left no room for keeping a consistent relationship. Poor Richard.

But, at the end of the day, his life was the perfect combination of inspiring, serious dedication to science, and vitality for carefree, enjoyable living with a quest for adventure, knowledge and new hobbies to explore. What a man. Oh, and if I had been around in his time, I would have called him a babe.


Feynman and his Bongos




It doesn't seem to me that this fantastically marvelous universe, this tremendous range of time and space and different kinds of animals, and all the different planets, and all these atoms with all their motions, and so on, all this complicated thing can merely be a stage so that God can watch human beings struggle for good and evil — which is the view that religion has. The stage is too big for the drama.
(1959), quoted by James Gleick in Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman (1992)

Ornaments of Gold

Dreamin' of New Tattoos...

I've decided on a hot air balloon. Or a scene involving a hot air balloon. Taking a bunch of vintage photos for inspiration I'm in the process of drawing my future tattoo...I might do a watercolor painting of it first just for fun in a style I have recently become obsessed with. I first noticed it on a couple Joni Mitchell albums, but then realized it was very popular in the late '70s, early 80's, especially for CD art. It's basically ink outline and bright color, with some just plain ink lines. Maybe it was used a lot because that's the only "computer graphics" that were possible then. I know it's probably really common, but I really like the idea of it. Anyway, I'm not describing it very well so I'll just include some example....









And here are a couple hot air balloons that like...





(Images via Google image search)

A High of 92

I was killed by a bright, white light
I was brought down by a chanting chorus
I was dragged through the desert by a blind eyed messenger
To be dumped at the doorstep of false idol worshippers

The Film Revolution

Check it out- I found a photo of my camera on Arvida's blog (arvidabystrom.blogspot.com) (amazing, btw) which makes me very happy. I think she uses it for most of her photos, and they are something to die for.

Thank you for the new album, Yours Truly, Audrey

This is a new Grandaddy album. Just kidding. In case you didn't know, all of their previous albums were actually previous Jason Lytle albums. Just so you know.

I've also never done a music post before, so this is weird. I'd say it hardly counts though.

Reality Bites

The "unemployed waif." I can relate.

Yesterday I went to my brother's high school graduation. The speeches were terrible. The students' ones were cliche pieces of crap about all the fond memories they've made and how now that that they are adults they are prepared for the real world now. It's just funny because that's what they said at my college graduation and it certainly wasn't true then, so how could it be true for my brother who barely barely barely made it to graduation? The teachers' ones were the worst though- one English teacher sounded like he had rehearsed his speech in the typical slam poetry rhythm that usually causes me to wince and gag, and he actually finished it off with "Sweet love to you, my brothers and sisters." That can't be okay to say to your students.

One of the administrators made a speech all about generation y, or generation I, or generation nexters, or generation tech or whatever it's called. She went on and on about all the possible new names for our generation (birth year '83-'03), and the more I listened to her crap, the more I thought about how I felt I belonged in Generation X. The way she described Gen Y just made me sick to really hear it objectively- after I had heard the words myspace, twitter, cell phone, group dynamics, and technology over and over again to describe the kind of people we are, I felt like the words didn't really even belong to us anymore. These are the things that define us, yet we are too young to have had any real role in creating them- they were created for us by another generation, and we're too lazy to do anything besides press buttons, so that's who we are now. She went on about how we have a "different work ethic" where our comfort and happiness matter, but really I think she was calling us lazy.

Our generation supposedly has our shit together- we aren't lost and jaded like generation x, who struggled to find their place amidst the materialism of the 90s. But, wait, I DO feel that way, and so does everyone else I know! Just because we know how to use the internet, and we have created a collective consciousness with twitter and facebook, doesn't mean that we have any better answers than the generation before us had.

So I watched Reality Bites today, and it confirmed my feeling that I belong to Winona Ryder's generation. I also need her floral vests and dresses.





This reminds me of all the times I've used my mom's credit card to buy "unessential items."

(ukonline)
(smvblog)